No. 5-24, 21 March 2024 | Open PDF

TO: QTU MEMBERS

Working for members

The QTU works for members by negotiating outcomes to complex industrial and professional issues and by representing the profession on numerous committees and key stakeholder groups.

Proposed amendments to the Education (General Provisions) Act (EGPA) 

Following the release of proposed amendments to the EGPA, QTU Executive has decided that the QTU’s submission to the Parliamentary committee should reject the changes as they relate to the appeals for a cumulative 11 days of SDAs in a year and the requirement to develop a support plan for every SDA for students in particular cohorts. Information gathered from school leader forums held earlier this week will also be used to inform the submission. Thank you to the members who participated. If you missed a forum, you can still have your say on the proposed changes to the EGPA here: https://www.qtu.asn.au/school-leader-forum

School leaders and QTU Executive recognise that the student code of conduct is one of the mechanisms used to establish boundaries to create a safe learning environment for students, and consequently a safe workplace. Those boundaries also create clear expectations of student behaviour, which maximise learning for all students by addressing the behaviour of a disruptive few. School leaders were clear that it’s time the focus moved from the number of SDAs to the interventions required to address the behaviours of the students that warranted the SDA in the first place. If the Department of Education is genuine in wanting to achieve equity and excellence, it must provide more fully-funded support for students who need it, including positive learning centres in more locations open to all year levels, more guidance officers, and more advisory visiting teachers. We want all students to achieve, and schools must be given the tools to enable this.

Submissions are due by Monday 25 March. A fringe event will be held at the Education Leaders Conference from 7.30am on Tuesday 26 March to discuss the QTU’s submission and the next steps in the Union’s opposition to these amendments. 

Teacher shortage – preparation for week of action underway 

State Council resolved that Week 3, Term 2 will be a week of activities to draw attention to the impact of the teacher shortage on members.  Materials to support activities during the week of action will be available to Union Reps in Week 1 next term.  The QTU believes that the department needs to immediately adopt a strategy to attract and retain teachers and school leaders and fill critical vacancies. The initiatives should then feed into a sustainable solution for all vacancies across Queensland. Negotiations with the department are continuing.

If your school has not completed the QTU’s teacher shortage survey (https://www.research.net/r/TcherShortage24), we encourage you to do so.  The information from this survey will be used to inform the ongoing negotiations and campaign.

Investing in public education  

Last week, the AEU conducted a week of action that called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Queensland Education Minister Di Farmer to fully fund our state schools.

One way the QTU continues to advocate for improved working conditions is to ensure that every state school is funded at a minimum of 100 per cent of the schooling resource standard (SRS). This must be the priority as the Queensland Government commences negotiations with the federal government for a replacement National School Reform Agreement (NSRA).

A decade after governments adopted a schooling resource standard (SRS), 98 per cent of state schools nationally remain resourced below that standard. Right now, state schools across the nation are not funded to educate one in ten students.

The future funding of every state school in the country is being decided in the next few months, and it is vital that we have accurate information about workloads, resourcing, and teacher shortages. That is why we are asking you to complete the AEU’s national State of our Schools 2024 survey (https://www.ir-surveys.com/cgi-bin/AEU-SoS-2024.htm).

It is your chance to tell us what you think and what you are experiencing in your school. The survey will take about 10 minutes to complete, and you can go in the draw to win a new iPad Pro.

More information about the campaign and ways to get involved are available on the ForEveryChild website (https://www.foreverychild.au/).

Workplace health and safety – mould updates

The 2023/2024 summer vacation period was particularly wet and humid. As a result of a number of factors, including the high humidity, a lack of planning on the part of the department at central office and regional facilities level, and the condition of some buildings, many schools have been dealing with significant outbreaks of mould.

These outbreaks have left classrooms and other teaching areas unusable. School communities and individual teachers have lost teaching resources and been physically and psychosocially impacted. The impact on music has been significant, with instruments being damaged or ruined. 

Individual members and organisers have been working with school leaders to progress the redressing of mould issues, however the advice from the Infrastructure Services Division was out of date. The Mould Fact Sheet had links to other government departments' fact sheets, which advised that bleach could be used to remove the mould. This went against the department's own chemical management directions.

Thanks to QTU advocacy, this advice is being revised and the factsheet updated.

QTU quarterly member survey – now open!

The QTU’s member survey for Term 1 is now open. Please take a moment to fill it in and have your say on the important issues affecting our Union. It only takes a few minutes. Survey responses are completely anonymous.

This survey is one of several ways members can have their say. Members can also help guide the direction of our Union though our democratic structures, including via branch meetings, State Council and Executive.

Your voice is important to us. Please take the survey here: https://www.qtu.asn.au/qtu-member-survey-2024

Kate Ruttiman

General Secretary​​​​​​

 Authorised by Kate Ruttiman, General Secretary, Queensland Teachers' Union
21 Graham Street, Milton, QLD, Australia, 4064